Amanda Beaudry, 27, had just put her 18 month-old daughter Scarlett in the car in her driveway when she was suddenly approached by two thugs trying to steal her car. Instead of letting them go with her daughter, Beaudry says her “mama bear” instincts immediately kicked in.

According to Daily Mail, Beaudry by Kelvin Houston, 23, and Stephane Johnson, 20, who offered her $100 to give them a ride. When she refused, Houston fled, but Johnson jumped into the front seat of the car with Scarlett in the backseat.

“He dove right in and I dove in [on the passenger’s side] and he threw the car into reverse,” she continued. “The car was in reverse going. I don’t know how I did it, but somehow, I struggled with him and got it into… got it off and broke the key off.”

After she broke the key, Beaudry was able to get the car into park as Johnson screamed in protest. Police quickly arrived at the scene, and they told the mother that Houston and Johnson were both wanted for stealing another car and dumping it into a lake.

Though she is now being hailed as a hero, Beaudry says any mother would have done the same thing.

“My instincts just kicked in,” she said. “I was just fighting him. There was no way he was going to get my child.”